Today we begin in Northumbria. King AEthelred of Northumbria, son of AEthelwold Moll, was sitting the throne, having taken it from a man who claimed to be from the Line of Ida. And initially it seems that many people were quite happy with AEthelred, and we’re told that he was put in power with a great deal of pomp and… Read more →

Today we’re going to be talking about Archbishop Jaenberht, King Offa of Mercia, Charlemagne, Carloman, Cynewulf of Wessex, Egbert II of Kent, and AEthelred of Northumbria. It’s going to be a biggie! Oh, and we also talk about Biggie. http://www.thebritishhistorypodcast.com/episodes/151.mp3 Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS Read more →

Today’s episode is going to go all over the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. We have the Kings of Kent, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria, and of course, Mercia all involved. It’s a busy one. But Offa will continue to be our main character. To start with, what’s going on in the world? Last week I mentioned in passing that King Cynewulf… Read more →

Today we’re starting a series on one of the most influential Mercian kings in history. King Offa. But before we start this story, I need to fess up to a couple things. First, for the last several hundred years, this period has often been described in terms of Mercian Supremacy. And it’s easy to see why that is, AEthelbald was… Read more →

Alright, as you already know, King AEthelbald of Mercia had a bit of a rough start… what with being exiled and living in a swamp. But once he was able to take the throne, he hit the ground running and it wasn’t long before he was the supreme power in the South with even Bede writing of how he dominated… Read more →

This year for our Christmas special, I thought I would give you an idea of what Christmas was like for some of the people in Middle Ages Britain. Now, Christmas in the middle ages was quite different from our modern experience in many ways. And like with everything else, it would have varied from location to location. However, in general… Read more →

When we last left off, King AEthelbald of Mercia was supreme in the south. Most of the rival kingdoms of Mercia have been dealing with internal issues and civil war, and in the vacuum AEthelbald has lead Mercia into becoming the dominant force in the south… and possibly the most powerful Kingdom in Britain. And as further reinforcement of his… Read more →

Ok, so we ended our last episode with the death of King Ceolred at a banquet. And he went out swinging… or at least gibbering and cursing the heavens. Let’s face it, Ceolred was a colorful character and really brought his A game right until the end. I mean, you really have to work hard to completely destroy Penda’s dynasty.… Read more →

Ok, so recently we’ve chatted about some cultural matters and I’ve also given you a broad overview of the failed dynastic politics of Northumbria and where this is all headed. But we really didn’t cover too much of what was going on elsewhere. We hinted at it, but I’m sure you’re curious about the other heavy hitter in England. Mercia.… Read more →

Often times, the way the Middle Ages are presented, are as an era where everyone was lily white and a time when men were men and women were women. A time of hyper masculinity where all the guys were muscle bound warriors with big bushy beards and a bone structure that makes them look like extras from Clan of the… Read more →